Rod Stewart celebrates 78th birthday with wife Penny Lancaster, 51, who helped 'mend his heart'
LONDON, UK: It’s Rod Stewart's big day! Sir Roderick David Stewart CBE turned 78 on January 10 and the British pop singer will reportedly be spending time with his wife, Penny Lancaster, and other family members on his special day. He is a proud father of eight children by five different women and has a granddaughter as well. Not just that, the veteran artist will have a grandson soon.
Life was not always this perfect for Stewart. He faced several challenges and divorces before meeting Lancaster. In 1999, his second wife, Rachel Hunter, left him, leaving him disheartened but soon he met his current wife. The ‘I Don't Want to Talk About It’ singer had once told PEOPLE, “Rachel broke up with me on a Monday evening, and it was heartbreaking. No one leaves Rod! But that Saturday night, I met Penny at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The bass player in my band, Carmine, said, 'Listen, you've just come out of a long nine-year marriage. You're not ready yet.' I nearly strangled him!”
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The love birds finally met
Stewart eventually got Lancaster's number and the two fell in love before tying the knot in 2007. The singer had reportedly said at that time, “[Penny] has mended my heart in more ways than one. It's a perfect relationship. I always tell the girls in my band and my daughters, 'A woman has so much living to do.' It's your life! Forget men!”
Though Stewart has many children, he tries to be a perfect father and supports them. He had once said, “I couldn't ask for anything better. What makes me happiest now is seeing all my kids and my wife with big smiles on their faces.”
2017 was a testing year for Rod Stewart
In 2017, Stewart tested positive for prostate cancer. According to Express, he said, “Just finding out is a terrible shock. Like every parent you go, 'I am not going to see my children grow up or get married. That is it. I am gone here.' My first reaction, like most men, was stiff upper lip. I carried on touring because I felt fine."
He continued, “I had six weeks of treatment, five days a week radiotherapy. Once that was done I went out on tour and forgot all about it. You cannot sink into yourself, you have got to get up and get on with life. I wanted to help other people but I didn't want to help until I was on the right side of it in remission.” However, two years later, everything fell into place as the ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ singer was pronounced cancer-free.
Things start looking up for Rod Stewart
In 2011, Stewart became a grandfather when his daughter, Kimberly, and her ex-boyfriend, Benicio del Toro, had a daughter, Delilah del Toro. Kimberly is the singer's daughter with his first wife Alana. He reportedly said at that time, “It is wonderful. I do not get to see her enough and she is a bit shy of me. She thinks that I am some sort of a lion with this hair. But she is gorgeous.”
He added, “I love all my kids. They are the most important thing in my life. I cannot get enough of them. It is hard rounding us all up and getting us all in one place. They always have plans and say, 'Sorry Dad, can't come, Fred is coming into town', or something like that. So I say, 'If you don't come, it's coming out of your inheritance.' So they show up.”
Stewart will become a grandfather again as his daughter Ruby is expecting. He recentlyshared the happy news on Instagram with a short clip and a caption that read, “It’s a boy! Huge congratulations to my daughter @rubystewart and @itsjakeyouguys.”